Spam "bots" harvest email addresses from the web on a regular basis. The FTC has an informative piece on this. While searching for your family history you don't want to be inundated with ads. Open an email account just for genealogy at a free web-based email service, such as:
YAHOOHOTMAILNETZERO. If you receive a lot of spam you can close the free account and open a new one.

MESSAGE BOARDS, Lists, & Forums...
Message boards enable you to post your surnames and/or town of origin. If you include an email address opened especially for genealogy searches, people with information to share will be able to contact you. Most likely they will leave a response message on the board. Be sure to go back and check them regularly as some messages remain on the boards for a long time.

Searching for our family was one of the most rewarding things we have ever done. It required perseverance and a lot of assistance from others. Many of these "others" we have never met except via email and they help people out of the goodness of their hearts. "Thank You" to those of you who help others.

Sometimes you will need lookups or copies of records. It's a good idea to reimburse people for their time and expenses AND to reciprocate in kind when others ask for assistance in an area that you excel in.

Now that you have tons of documents, letters, and photos, why don't you put all of the pieces together and
share your family story?